


theories on soulmates and how they relate to you

by umbr4e



Series: Amaguuji Week 2020 [5]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Awkwardness, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Mythology References, Pining, Prompt: clothes swap, Sharing Clothes, Travel, they r cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24900457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umbr4e/pseuds/umbr4e
Summary: “Rantaro?”“Hmm?”“Have you heard of Plato’s theory on soulmates?”
Relationships: Amami Rantaro/Shinguji Korekiyo
Series: Amaguuji Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795822
Comments: 12
Kudos: 111





	theories on soulmates and how they relate to you

**Author's Note:**

> amaguuji week by @servantc0re on instagram!  
> day 5: clothes swap/body swap
> 
> YES i know this barely fits with the prompt, they don't even swap clothes, but its 3 am and my brain feels like a brick shut up  
> i miss vietnam with my whole being so that is where they are 👍

“You’re wearing my shirt, by the way.”

“...That- That is not out of the ordinary, clothes are meant to be worn.”

“Yeah, but that one’s mine.”

“...Do you want it back? I should not have taken it without permission, I didn’t realise it was yours.”

“No! No, I um. No, I don’t need it back.”

There is a slightly uncomfortable silence in the spacious hotel room, and it only adds to Rantaro’s anxiety.  
If seeing Korekiyo Shinguji in his favourite blue sweatshirt hadn’t stopped his heart already, turning what could have been a simple conversation into something so awkward.

“Rantaro… You are not uncomfortable, yes? Our belongings have been mixed up for weeks. It was a simple misunderstanding, I will take no offense if you want me to correct it.” 

“No. I’m serious, it’s fine. We’ve shared stuff before, right?”

“...Alright. If you insist.” The anthropologist tucks a stray strand of hair behind his ear, opening the worn notebook in his lap. “Moving on to separate matters, shall we write up an itinerary for our outing tomorrow, or shall we simply ‘wing it’, as you say?”

“Isn’t the phrase ‘more pressing matters’ or something like that?” 

“Your comfort is of equal importance to me.”

Rantaro turned to fiddle with the curtains, hoping Korekiyo couldn’t see the flush on his face. “I- We can wing it, today was really fun.”

“Well then, of course. It saves us the trouble of meticulously planning it out, thank goodness.”

“...We should have planned this.”

“Correct. However, I doubt there is anything we can do at the moment.”

“Well. This place isn’t too bad.”  
The cafe was small, filled with dark wooden chairs and tables. The size of it was compensated for by large windows that looked out onto the streets of Hội An, paper lanterns in the trees outside swaying back and forth so violently in the rain and wind that Rantaro was concerned they would fall.  
There were dozens of people running past the empty door in the street outside, trying to escape the storm and her ferocity.  
Despite it, there were no other customers except the two of them in their corner table, and Rantaro assumes it isn’t too uncommon. Though atmospheric, the cafe is not very noticeable from the street. It was Korekiyo that dragged them inside, eager to seek shelter behind any door that would readily accommodate them.  
In spite of their best efforts, however, the taller boy was currently sitting in front of him, hair frizzy, expression irritated. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, you needn’t worry yourself over me, I am simply annoyed.”

“Yeah, I kinda got that.” Rantaro can’t help but grin.

Korekiyo rolls his eyes, but it is undeniably fond. “Fiend.”

“Takes one to know one.”

“That, I cannot argue with.”

For a while, they sit in silence. Rantaro rests his head on the wood, closing his eyes as he listens to the rain and the slow clinking of Korekiyo stirring his tea with a little spoon.  
The abandoned cup of his own tea sat in his line of sight, and he mourned its warmth for a moment before closing his eyes.

Korekiyo would likely finish it for him, anyway.

Korekiyo.

Korekiyo and the comfortable, natural rhythm they had fallen into over the past few months. Since graduating from Hope’s Peak, they had been travelling all over the world, fuelled by wanderlust and the companionship and solidarity of experiencing an adventure with someone you care about.

Someone you care about?

Of course Rantaro cared about him, he was his best friend.

His best friend, who looked so lovely still wearing his shirt that even thinking about it brought a prominent blush to his cheeks and the tips of his ears.  
His beautiful, kind, considerate, intelligent, funny, wonderful best friend.

He felt a slightly scarred hand on his temple, brushing away a few stray strands that had fallen over his eyes while he rested.  
It lingered for a bit over his heavily pierce ear, and Rantaro’s heart (the damnable traitor) stopped for the second time in 24 hours. 

“Rantaro?”

“Hmm?”

“Have you heard of Plato’s theory on soulmates?”

“No, I can’t say I have.” He sits up once again, resting his chin on the back of his hand.  
Korekiyo’s rants were always interesting, and he wasn’t planning on missing one.

“In his Symposium, he talks of Zeus splitting humans into two perfectly matched halves of each other, condemning them to spend their whole lives in search of their other halves. Humans were originally creatures with two heads, four arms, and four legs, only changing to the state we are currently in after the separation. According to these ideas, when these two halves reunite, they are struck with the emotion of ‘love’- True love, for the first time. The only real sense of belonging a person could achieve.”

“That’s beautiful.”

There was a familiar twinkling in Korekiyo’s eye, a little crinkle in the corners of them that indicated a smile underneath the surgical mask he typically wore these days. (He’s comfortable taking it off around Rantaro, but old habits die hard.)

“According to him, that notion is idiotic.”

“Damn, what a buzzkill.”

“Kukuku… I suppose so. He states that the idea of a soulmate, another half of oneself, is idiotic. Humans are whole creatures. They are imperfect, and flawed, but they are individual souls, at heart. They belong in herds, but it is idiotic to think two seperate people who know nothing about the other could be a perfect match.  
Soulmates are not born, but… Soulmates can be made. Wasting your life yearning for someone to complete you is pointless and immature- True, visceral love is only possible when two people choose to make it happen, when they spend time with each other, when they take the time to understand and know each other while also not… Owing each other anything. Though tougher to grasp and even tougher in practise love is healthiest when the notion of ‘completion’ is fully omitted, allowing both parties to grow and thrive on their own while maintaining a loving, fulfilling relationship.”

“That’s… Nevermind what I said earlier, that’s even more beautiful.”

“I agree.”  
“What made you wanna talk about that one specifically?”

Korekiyo isn’t meeting his eyes.

“...Kiyo?”

“You could… I suppose you could take it as my own strange attempts to flirt. I’m not… Really sure I’m doing it right.”

Oh.

Oh.

Despite the implications of what he just heard, Rantaro’s face broke into a grin.

“Your first pick up line is a five page essay on Plato’s theory on soulmates?”

He supposes the playful kick under the table was deserved, but he whined about it anyway.

“Oh be silent, you. It wasn’t even that bad.”

“Kiyo, how could you… I am hurt. I am in pain, I am suffering. My delicate constitution is no match for your brute force. I underestimated you for being a walking noodle, but it seems I have been proven wrong.” 

“I cannot believe I have a crush on you.”

“You don- Sorry, what?”

Korekiyo stares at him, the playfulness from earlier gone. He picks at his fingers over the table, tea lying cold and forgotten.

“I… Well. I suppose this counts as a confession.”  
He breaks eye contact, watching his own fingers pull at each other.  
“Honestly, Rantaro… How could I not be in love with you? After everything, after everything at Hope’s Peak, after spending so many years getting to know you, I… I would say that I don’t know how I didn’t fall sooner, but that would be a lie. I fell for you years ago.”

He starts roughly picking at a nail, still not looking him in the eye.

“If you do not wish to be with me, I understand. I love you in more ways than one, and that includes platonically. Agape, eros, pragma, they are nothing without philia.”

Rantaro reaches out, reaches out and take’s Kiyo’s fingers in his own, effectively stopping the fidgeting. Before he knows what he is doing, he is leaning over the table, leaning over the cups of tea and condiments, leaning into Korekiyo and pressing the softest of kisses against the fabric of his mask. He is shaking, he is shaking and he’s worried he might cry, but he knows there is nothing he wants to do more.

Korekiyo sits still, eyes open wide with shock.

“I’m… Not as good as you at telling people I’m in love with them as you are, so I’m really hoping for my actions to speak instead of my words, but… I feel the same way, I really do. Philia is good, but I want the rest. I want you. Is that selfish?” His voice is quiet as watches Kiyo pull the mask down.

“Not in the slightest. Not at all.”

In the warm ambience of the cafe, with the rain pouring down from the heavens outside, Rantaro realizes Korekiyo’s lips taste like tea.


End file.
